Wood St Coffee started life a few years ago as a pop-up at Wood Street Market (hence the name). Now it’s a designer independent coffee shop in Walthamstow’s Blackhorse Workshop serving specialty coffee, cakes, breakfasts and lunches and a weekend brunch. Think sourdough toasties, smashed advocado on toast, seasonal soups, salads etc… We loved the cafe building. It was our first visit, so design-wise we thought it was great – beautiful designer lighting, bright and airy feel, bare skandi-style furniture. There’s free Wi-Fi, plenty of power sockets for sneaky working from home days, easy disabled and buggy access and loads of the outdoor space for dogs, bikes and sunny days.

The cafe remains a bit hidden and easy to miss. You have to be quite determined and certain you’re heading in the right direction, as you steer off down Sutherland Road Path off Blackhorse Road. But the owner, Gareth, promises that some extra signage is on the way, which should improve visibility. Coffees were good – we had black Americanos (£2.20) and enjoyed the blend, flavour and preparation. Full choice of drinks from skinny macchiato and mocha, to teas and hot chocolate.

We were surprised (in a good kind of way) how much of the menu is vegetarian. That being said, the Bacon & Fried Egg Sandwich (£6.50) was an instant win. Great toasted sourdough bread with rosemary butter, which works amazingly with the fried egg. The bacon was just the way I like it, American, crispy style and plenty of it. Served with a sweet, spiced tomato relish. The addition of rocket was a nod towards healthy greenery. All in all, it was worth the 20 minutes walk just for that bacon sarnie!

The Breakfast Stack (£8) – potato cake, halloumi, avocado, poached free-range egg, spinach and roasted vine tomatoes was lovely too. Presented beautifully and an obvious Instagam pic. The sumac, seeds and micro-herbs again are nice touches. The homemade Baked Beans with paprika, coriander & cumin on toast (£6) served to a nearby table led to severe plate envy, and the additional chorizo (£2) looked a great idea. Apart from the cakes and pastries on the counter, there was also a sweet brunch option of Brioche French Toast £7.50 with salted caramel pecans, Greek yogurt, red wine poached plums & maple syrup – this changes seasonally dependent on fruit available and will be changing again very soon.